Four aces typically make a winning hand in poker. Four ACEs in life, however, means the deck is stacked against you.
ACE stands for Adverse Childhood Experience. Researchers have identified 10 exposures—abuse, neglect, traumatic household disruptions—that represent risk factors for addiction, violence, criminal behavior and chronic health conditions later in life.
The issue is close to home. According to a report recently released by the Center for Youth Wellness, Butte County ranks first in California for ACE exposure: 76.5 percent of residents have at least one.
The more ACEs, the greater the jeopardy.
“More people in Butte County have four or more ACEs, which is kind of like the tipping point,” said DeAnne Blankenship, Chico-based director of program services for the nonprofit California Health Collaborative. “Four or more ACEs put you at considerably higher risk for all kinds of things: substance abuse, alcoholism … chronic disease as well.”
The report, A Hidden Crisis: Findings on Adverse Childhood Experiences in California, finds that a person with four or more ACEs is twice as likely to have cancer and/or heart disease, three times as likely to smoke and/or binge drink, five times as likely to suffer from depression, seven times as likely to be an alcoholic, 10 times as likely to inject drugs and 12 times as likely to attempt suicide.
“Some people are like, ‘Duh,’ but others are really enlightened by this,” Blankenship said. “No matter what you do as an adult, the research is showing that a lot of these conditions that you may suffer from are dictated by your exposure to trauma as a child.
To continue reading this story by Evan Tuchinsky, go to: https://www.newsreview.com/chi...content?oid=19086325
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